Dear Pierre,
I took some time to research your question and there appears to be no
information in print about your Nathaniel Douglass. I have checked Clinton
County (Champlain is in Clinton Co.), Champlain, and Rouses Point
histories which, although they do a thorough job of detailing the early
shipping industry, make no mention of him. I also checked the cemetery
records and while there are several Douglass' buried in Champlain, the
earliest birth date is 1802, and no Nathaniel appears. A quick check of
our manuscript collection also failed to turn over any info.  While you
may want to venture down to Plattsburgh to conduct a more thorough search,
I suggest that you exhaust sources north of the border first.  One
thought: given the time frame of your home's construction, if it contains
any brick or stone, there is a good chance that material came from 'Fort
Blunder.'  In 1818, a fort being constructed by the U.S. was found to be
north of the border, construction was abandoned, and locals were allowed
to carry of the building materials. Many buildings on both sides of the
border built at that time took advantage of the free brick and stone.
Another fort, Montgomery, was constructed on the same site after
completion of the Webster-Ashburton treaty restored possession of the
place to the U.S.
Wayne Miller

On Tue, 2 Jun 1998, Pierre Couture wrote:

> Hello!  I live in St-Cyprien-de-Napierville, in southern Québec, near
> Champlain, New York.  I live in a house that was built c.1815 by
> Nathaniel Douglass, who came from Champlain, where he may have operated
> a ferry boat on the lake.  Does anybody know anything else on this man
> and his descendants.  Thank you in advance.  Pierre Couture.
> 

**************************************************************************
Wayne L. Miller				Special Collections Librarian
Feinberg Library			2 Draper Avenue
518-564-5206				Plattsburgh, NY 12901
[log in to unmask]      or		[log in to unmask]
	"I wonder what will happen today!"  -Maggie Muggins-
"Not even God can change history...which is why he tolerates historians."
					-Voltaire
**************************************************************************